ON THE ATHLETIC TRACK

Chronicle (Levin), 20 January 1949, Page 7

ON THE ATHLETIC TRACK

Ray Wickens) .

Determined Runmng Seen At Weekly Sports

(By

As pointed out in an earlier artiele, it was evident from the patronage at the weekly athletic and cycling meetings that the fare provided by our local athletes would meet with increased . public support as the season progressed. This observation was justified by the excellent attendance and enthusi.asm displayed by the public on Monday'evening. While the cyelists put on a great show, the athletes were ..not to be outshone and determined running, with, some exciting finishes, resulted. The 'men's 75 yards saw R. Desgrand again successful, with C. Walker and B. Lind in close attendance. Lind is sbowing excellent form and his determined running is a treat to watch. Pecuiiarl.y enough, the 100 yards event saw these runners again filling the first three places. In the 220 senior event I. Mudge, of OtaKi, clapped on the pace to win from B. Lind and L. Mansell after a great tussle in the straight. Mudge is putting plenty of life into his running and capped a good evening's performance with two firs cs and a third in the three events he contested. C. Walker is reaching fo-rm after a season of inacdvity and his win in the 300 yards event was a fine effort. R, Whelan and Jim Goodwin ran well in this event, which took the place of the quarter mile. The first division of this distance saw tnree boys from ihe Training Centre fill the majnr places, a result which was most popular. The high jump proved one of the highlights of the meeting, Desgrande, Mansell and Sayers giV'ing grand exhibitions. In a ksenly contested event, Desgrande prevailed at 5 ft. 3 , ins., Mansell and Sayers reaching 5 ft. 2 ins. and 5 ft. 1 in. respectively. The surrounding lights made jumping difficult and with this event started earlier better performances shouid result. The long jump again proved a walk-over for Desgrande, his leap Of 19 ft. 5 ins. being his best to date. If he were to concentrate on this event' he should reach 21 feet without difficulty. Actually, better performances in the jumps would have resulted had

not tne contestants enterea ior so many events. The high jump was in fact, delayed at intervals to enable them to compete in ihe sprints. It was natural, therefore, • that the subs'equent reaction de- % 5-t'racted-). from-, their jumping abil7 ity. The ladies' 75 saw only tv/o starters, a most disappointing field. However, Misses S. Rose and M. Cameron ran a fine race and a dead-heat proved a fitting cnmax. The ladies' 100 and 120 yards saw these two runners and Miss N. Tyree fill the major placings. Both Misses Tyree and Rose are runmng exceptionally well, and their determined finishes should be an example to the men. Miss Cameron has a nice style, but as suggested previously a little more deter.mination and vigorous effort wouldo produce better results. Excellent events should eventuate next Monday night when the inter-club competition for the Hunter Shield will be continued at Levin. With four distriet clubs competing at Levin this will make a fitting conclusion to- the Anniversary Day holiday. A remirider to those entering for the open meeting on February 5 : The programme has been released and intending competitors are urged to send in their entries witnout delay. The closing date is Wednesday, January 25, so do not leave your entry until the last rninute; late entries -will not be accepted.